240 pages : 25 cm

The skills of the ancient Egyptians in preserving bodies through mummification are well known, but their expertise in the everyday medical practices needed to treat the living is less familiar and often misinterpreted. John F. Nunn draws on his own experience as an eminent doctor of medicine and an Egyptologist to reassess the evidence. He has translated and reviewed the original Egyptian medical papyri and has reconsidered other sources of information, including skeletons, mummies, statues, tomb paintings and coffins

Illustrations highlight symptoms of similar conditions in patients ancient and modern, and the criteria by which the Egyptian doctors made their diagnoses - many still valid today - are evaluated in the light of current medical knowledge. In addition, an appendix listing all known named doctors contains previously unpublished additions from newly translated texts. Spells and incantations and the relationship of magic and religion to medical practice are also explored. Incorporating the most recent insights of modern medicine and Egyptology, the result is the most comprehensive and authoritative general book to be published on this fascinating subject for many years

Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-233) and indexes

1. The land of the Nile -- 2. The medical papyri -- 3. Concepts of anatomy, physiology and pathology -- 4. The pattern of disease -- 5. Magic and religion in medicine -- 6. The healers -- 7. Drug therapy -- 8. Surgery, trauma and dangerous animals -- 9. Specialised branches of medicine -- 10. Epilogue -- Appendix B: Concordance of tabulations of known doctors (swnw) -- Appendix C: Pharmacological properties of some Egyptian herbal remedies -- Appendix D: Egyptian words appearing in the text

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